Until The End
by Hyper4Hetalia
Summary: When Lukas- a young man born with a terminal illness that has left him bedridden his entire life -and Mathias- a delinquent with a troubled past -meet, attraction blooms quickly between them. Mathias promises to give Lukas the time of his life before it reaches its unavoidable end, but will the pain and fear of knowing their time together is short tear them apart? DenNor, SuFin.
1. Chapter 1

"How are you feeling today, brother?"

The hospital was usually quiet this time on weekdays, when parents were at work and couldn't visit their sick children, and Lukas Bondvik's room was no different. His parents were wealthy entrepreneurs that were constantly working an barely had time to stop by, and his little brother was only able to spare the trip on his way home from school every few days or so. When Emil did visit, he brought Lukas books on the Norse gods he was so fascinated with, and shoujo manga his friend Kiku leant him. Lukas appreciated his brother's effort to keep him entertained, but he didn't mind being alone. He was used to it by now.

Lukas had lived with a terminal illness for practically his entire life. He was only a few months old when his parents realized that something wasn't quite right with him, when he would scream as though in pain when nothing seemed to have hurt him, or when he would refuse milk or any kind of baby food. Upon taking him to the doctor and after countless tests, they discovered that Lukas was terminally sick and likely wouldn't live to see adulthood.

Lukas practically grew up in a hospital. He never had as much energy as normal kids his age, but around the age of ten doing normal things like walking and playing became too taxing on his frail health, and he was sentenced to constant bed rest. Not long later his family moved from their home in Norway to the United States, to a special hospital that cared for children like him. Eight years later and Lukas was still in the same hospital, had never even seen the house where his parents and brother now lived, had never been outside, had never walked more than a few steps away from his hospital bed.

It was obvious Lukas was sick to anyone who looked at him. His skin was the pale, unblemished color of snow, having never been exposed to sunlight. His blue-lavender eyes were dull and glassy. His arms and legs had no muscle definition whatsoever, and he was very thin. Though his condition hadn't changed much in the last few years, Lukas knew that his time was short. After all, he was eighteen now, and the doctor's had always said that he wouldn't live to be an adult.

Surprisingly, this didn't bother Lukas. He hadn't lived like a normal boy long enough to develop any hopes and dreams, any expectations of a normal life he would never be able to live. He had always just sort of been waiting for the death he knew was rapidly approaching, preoccupying himself with books and idle chat with his little brother until that time came.

Lukas turned his gaze away from the window, spotting his brother in the doorway, fresh from school was his backpack still over his shoulders and everything. "Same as always." He said with a delicate shrug, folding his hands over the pale, colorless hospital blanket in his lap.

Emil let his backpack drop on the floor, making his way over to the chair next to his brother's bed, the heels of his knee-high white boots clicking on the tile floors. He slumped in his seat, propping his beloved boots up on the side of Lukas's bed, retrieving a stick of gum from his pocket and pushing it between his teeth. He didn't even bother offering Lukas a piece anymore, knowing he would refuse like he always did (Lukas hated any kind of artificial flavoring).

"School?" Lukas asked, pressing the button on the remote next to his bed, the top half of the mattress lifting a little more to adjust into a comfortable sitting position. If it were spring or summer the window would have been cracked, letting in a pleasant breeze and the lyrical chirping of the birds. Today was a crisp October afternoon, however, and any breeze would be too cold for Lukas's sensitive body, and instead of birds the only sound that could be heard were the ever-present beebs on the monitor next to his bed.

"Fine." Emil said, blowing a bubble and popping it with a loud snapping noise.

Lukas liked his brother, they were very much alike. They could communicate entire conversations with one-word phrases and simple body gestures, unlike their parents who never stopped running their mouths. People like that drove Lukas insane, but he didn't see his parents often enough to let it get to him. Another thing he liked about Emil was that he seemed to feel the same way about Lukas's illness as he did. He had been born after Lukas, so he had been raised knowing that his brother wouldn't live a full life. If he was going to die, why cry about it? That wouldn't stop it from happening.

"Books?"

Emil nodded, dragging his backpack across the floor and unzipping the pouch, pulling a thick, heavy volume on Norse mythology. He passed it to his older brother, watching Lukas flip through the first few pages, eventually nodding his approval.

"I got it from the school library." Emil explained, running a hand through his platinum hair. "Think you can read it in two weeks?"

Lukas nodded slowly, his eyes already darting across the first page, greedily drinking in the small, bold black text. "Two days." He corrected. He was a fast reader; something this big he could devour easily in just a few hours.

Emil nodded and sat there silently for a few minutes, then stood, retrieving his bag from the floor. "I'm leaving." He announced.

"Bye." Lukas said, not looking up from the book.

Emil turned and left the room, leaving his brother to finish the story.

.

"Here, take this to room 416." The nurse instructed, pushing an ugly brown dinner tray into the awaiting arms of a tall, eighteen year old boy.

"Sure thing, honey buns." He purred in a distinct Danish accent, winking flirtatiously at her and pivoting on his heel, strutting down the hall.

Mathias Køhler was spending his first day doing community service at the hospital by his high school, his punishment after getting caught spray painting a Danish flag on the side of the school, as well as his other 'questionable' behavior throughout the school year.

He was extremely tall, so tall that his spikey golden locks nearly brushing the ceiling. He wore a pair of dark skinny jeans with tears over the thighs, and a combat boots laced up to his knees, a few metal chains swinging from his hips. He wore several thick bracelets with different charms and band logos around his wrists, and a black hoodie overtop of his red t-shirt. His sea-green eyes seemed to glimmer with mischief, his lips quirked into an ever-present smirk.

He followed the pattern of room numbers as he made his way down the hall, eventually coming to a stop outside room 216. He raised his fist, knocking on the door. He heard that the hospital was for terminally sick kids, people came from all over the world just to have their children there. He felt bad for whatever poor little kid was inside.

"Come in." the voice made him hesitate. That definitely wasn't a little kid, and the accent wasn't American. Curious, he opened the door a crack, peeking in before entering completely.

If Mathias hadn't known better, he would have sworn that whom he saw inside was an angel. The boy's face was perfect, narrow and perfect like a porcelain doll; his skin was unblemished and white and looked soft to the touch. His hair fell over his left eye, a delicate ash-blonde color with one particular curl that seemed to hover in midair behind his right ear. He stared at Mathias with long-lashed, inhumanly beautiful amethyst eyes, his face expressionless. He was absolutely the most beautiful, elegant thing Mathias had ever seen.

The boy sat up a little straighter, slowly folding book in his lap. He frowned at Mathias, the most perfect, enticing frown the Dane had ever seen. "What are you looking at?" he asked, his pale eyebrows creasing. "You have my dinner tray, right? Bring it in. I'm hungry."

Mathias fought the heat rising in his cheeks, nudging the door open with his hip and striding not-so-confidently into the room. He set the tray down on the little wheeling table-thing and turned it to face the angelic boy, feeling those haunting eyes follow his every movement.

"You don't look like a nurse." The boy said finally.

"I'm not." Mathias said, chuckling nervously and stepping back. "Uh, community service. Got in some trouble at school."

"Hm." Was all the other said in reply, opening the book in his lap again and returning his attention to it. It was a sign for Mathias to leave, but he didn't take the hint.

"Soooooo, what's your name?" He asked, peering at him curiously.

He didn't look up from the book. "Lukas."

"Uh, sweet! I'm Mathias!"

"… Okay."

"What are you reading, Lukas?"

Lukas sighed, closing his book and turning to look up at him. "Norse mythology. Why haven't you left yet?"

Mathias completely disregarded the question, dropping into the seat next to his bed. "You like Norse mythology? Are you Norwegian? I thought I recognized the accent!"

Lukas sighed touching a hand to his forehead and sweeping his long bangs out of his eyes. "Yes I'm Norwegian. And what are you? You're definitely not American, though you are just as loud and obnoxious as one."

Again Mathias's selective hearing kicked into gear, completely disregarding the insult. "I'm Danish!" he told him proudly. "Moved here when I was twelve."

"Okay." Lukas said, clearly disinterested.

Mathias watched him returning to his book again, completely captivated. All of Lukas's movements were deliberate and graceful, his beautiful jewel-like eyes darting across the pages at lightning speed. He was completely ignoring Mathias, but the Dane hardly noticed. Eventually he realized that he had spent much more time in Lukas's room than he was supposed to, and that if he didn't get back to the nurse's station they would tell the school he had been slacking off.

He stood up quickly, hesitating before making his way to the door. "Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked the Norwegian finally.

Lukas didn't look up from his book. "Every day until I die." He said with an indifferent shrug, but somehow the force of his words pushed Mathias the last few steps into the hallway, because he realized the meaning behind them. Lukas was at a hospital for terminally ill children, and even though they had only just met, knowing that made Mathias feel sick to his stomach. He turned around quickly, fleeing the room as fast as he could, feeling as though he somehow left his heart behind.

**A/N:**

**No. Nonononononononono.**

**I shouldn't have done this. I really shouldn't have started another fanfiction, and I have another new one planned as well. But, this idea came to me last night and it felt like it was gonna burst out of me unless I wrote it right away. I don't know why, but DenNor has quickly becoming my OTP. I blame the fact that my Norway wig is on its way and me and my friend are working on Denmark and Norway cosplays.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please review and tell me what you think. Reviews= faster updates.**

**Credit for the title goes to my sister, who is ten and is already a yaoi fangirl. (I AM SUCH A PROUD SISTER ^3^)**


	2. Chapter 2

"Mom?" Mathias called in a hesitant tone, opening the door to the small townhouse he and his mother shared. The inside was neglect of any decorations- no wedding photos of his parents or baby pictures of Mathias like one would find in an ordinary household. The only thing that filled the room was the overpowering smell of cigarette smoke; the fraying, mismatched furniture; and the static coming from the old television that had been left on in the corner.

The only answer Mathias received to his call was the growling of his own stomach. He sighed and dropped his backpack onto the floor, making his way into the poor excuse of a kitchen. His mother was asleep at the rickety wooden table she had scavenged from someone's driveway on trash night, the one that Mathias swore had termites and refused to eat on. Her face was burried in a pile of bills, one hand wrapped around a half-consumed bottle of cheap wine that smelled disgustingly like watered-down vinegar.

Mathias sighed and gently removed the bottle from his mother's hand before it could spill all over the bills, locating the lid on the floor and sealing it shut. He brushed a few strands of his mother's too-blonde hair away from her face, careful not to wake her. His mother would probably be very pretty if she toned down her makeup and stopped frying her hair with bleach trying to get it back to the golden color it had been when she was in highschool.

Truth is Mathias's mother was still very young; she had only been fifteen when she got pregnant with him. Mathias was the result of a one-night stand with one of the teacher's at his mother's high school. Once everyone realized she was pregnant, his mother had been expelled and his father was fired. The man of course wanted nothing to do with Mathias or his mother and he moved to find work in Sweden where his reputation couldn't follow him. Mathias's grandparents- who had always been strict and old-fashioned, according to his mother -had kicked her out of the house, giving her enough money every month to afford rent. She worked several minimum-wage, dead-end jobs all throughout Mathias's childhood, never really giving much of a damn about him. Eventually she saved up enough that they moved to America in search of some "better job opportunities".

Now she worked as a cleaning lady for a few of the richer families living in the city. Her English was poor so it was the best she could get, and it paid enough to support her drinking and smoking habits. Her boyfriend Tom was an employee at the Home Depot and a part-time criminal. Mathias's mother often swiped the keys and alarm codes from the rich people she cleaned for and handed them over to Tom. She always knew when they would be away, of course, and sometimes Tom and a few of his friends would rob the places. Tom would then pawn his winnings and give Mathias's mother a cut of the profits, and so far they hadn't been caught.

Mathias knew it was only a matter of time before someone connected his mother to the robberies, though, which is why he didn't turn them in himself. He didn't care for his mother all that much and he especially didn't like Tom- he and Mathias didn't get along from the get-go, and most of their arguments resulted with Tom and his buddies ganging up on Mathias to kick the crap out of him. Of course the man was too much of a coward to fight Mathias on his own, because they both know who would win that one. Honestly nothing would make Mathias happier than to see Tom end up in prison as another man's bitch, but if that happened his mother would definitely be arrested too. And not that the woman had ever done anything to earn Mathias's love, but if she got arrested than Mathias would have to find some way to support himself, and he would probably end up working dead-end jobs for the rest of his life just like she did.

Mathias made his way over to the refrigerator, pulling it open with a dejected sigh. He stared at the pitiful contents inside (most of which was just beer for when Tom and his friends came over). Mathias grabbed one without giving it much thought; there wasn't much else to drink, and he didn't trust the tap water at their place. He grabbed some turkey from the back corner of the fridge and slapped it between two slices of bread (only after giving them a sniff and double-checking the expiration date).

Mathias carried his poor excuse for a dinner upstairs to his bedroom, and as he went his thoughts began to gravitate back to the boy he had met at the hospital. Lukas he had said his name was.. right? He didn't exactly seem like a fun guy to be around, but then again Mathias couldn't blame him; he probably wouldn't be the life of the party either if he was a permanent resident in a hospital for kids with terminal illnesses.

Mathias sat down on his bed (which was actually just a mattress and a few sheets thrown onto the floor) and took a bite of his sandwhich. He wondered what kind of illness Lukas had, and how long he had to live. It honestly wasn't what he wanted to be thinking about when he was trying to enjoy his dinner, but he couldn't stop his thoughts from going back to the expressionless boy he had found lying in a hospital bed. Lukas was unlike anyone Mathias had ever seen, with his platinum hair, snowy skin and hazy blue-violet eyes. Something about him intrigued Mathias, even though he knew persuing any kind of friendship with the guy was a bad idea. Willingly getting close to someone you knew could die any day now would just be stupid; it'd be better to avoid Lukas's room if at all possible from now on.

… And yet, that didn't feel like the right solution. Even though he had been trying to ignore Mathias most of the time, the sadness in Lukas's eyes hadn't gone unnoticed by the Dane. There had been no lines near the corners of Lukas's lips or creases by his brow, nor anything to show that the sickly Norwegian had ever smiled a day in his life. If Lukas was dying, then shouldn't he be out there having fun? Not wasting away in a depression hospital room with only smelly old library books to keep him company.

Mathias twisted the cap off his beer and drank reflexively, completely lost in thought now. He decided he would go back to Lukas's room tomorrow and try to cheer the poor guy up a little. Mathias just had to be careful not to get too close...

.

A knock woke Lukas up the next day. He supressed a groan, lifting his face off the extreme comfort of his pillow and pressing a button on the remote next to his bed. The top half of the mattress began to lift, raising Lukas's body into a sitting position. He ran a hand through his hair, using his fingers to get rid of any knots, careful to avoid the one particular curl that seemed to float independently from the rest of his head (it was very sensitive and did not like to be touched).

"Come in," he said calmly, grabbing the book Emil had brought him the day before and unfolding it in his lap. He was already nearly halfway through, but reading three-hundred pages in one night wasn't very impressive for someone who had as much time on their hands as Lukas did.

The door opened and two figures appeared in the doorway, the only two people who visited Lukas on a regular basis other than Emil. "Hey Lukas," Tino Väinämöinen said pleasantly, strolling into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Lukas said simply, turning a page of his book in disinterest. "Hows Berwald?"

Berwald, the second figure whom had appeared in Lukas's doorway, was seated in a wheelchair currently being pushed by Tino. He was a glowering Swede with short blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and skin ashy from sickness. He was the only person who had been in the hospital longer than Lukas, and Lukas enjoyed his company because he didn't talk much and didn't look at him in pity like everyone else did. Berwald had a disease where he suffered from minor strokes, which had left his speech slurred and difficult to understand. Despite his appearance, Berwald was actually surprisingly shy, and he allowed Tino to do most of the talking for him.

Tino, a Finnish boy their age with round brown eyes and shockingly yellow-blonde hair, was a volunteer at the hospital. He went to the same high school as Emil, and he was planning on going to nursing school after he graduated. He had started working at the hospital two years ago when he met Berwald and they fell in love; now the two were practically joined at the hip.

Lukas felt sorry for them. They were his only two friends in the world, but they were idiots. It was selfish of Berwald to let himself have a relationship with Tino when he was doomed to die young and leave the poor Finn behind. Tino was just plain stupid for going along with it.

"He's doing great!" Tino said proudly, petting the Swede's head adoringly. "Its been a whole month since he's had an episode!"

"That's good," Lukas said, folding his book shut again and turning his eyes on the couple, assuming they would be staying for a while. Not that he minded, not with them, at least. As he had mentioned before, he had more to pity them for than they did for him.

"Mhm!" The Finn hummed cheerfully, wheeling Berwald's chair within a few feet on Lukas's bed and sinking into a spot next to him. "Did Emil bring you another book, Lukas? What's it about?"

"Norse mythology." Lukas said shortly, shrugging his shoulders. "Its mostly things I've already read. I wish he would get the last volume of Fruits Basket from Kiku; shojo manga is surprisingly addicting..." He trailed off, frowning to himself. Hm. It wasn't often he caught himself rambling.

Tino giggled, shaking his head. "Somehow the fact that you read shojo manga doesn't surprise me."

Lukas supposed that he should be offended by that comment but he wasn't; it was true that, just like Tino, he was fairly feminine for a guy. Not that it mattered or made any difference in the scheme of things, it was simply the truth. Whether that made Lukas 'gay' or whatever he didn't care, because Lukas would never allow himself to entire into a romantic relationship with anyone, no matter what their gender.

He simply shrugged off his friend's retort, stealing a glance at the clock. He had slept most of the day away after being up late the night before, and now it was almost dinner time. His stomach growled quietly in need of substance and he silenced it with a warning glare. He could call for a dinner tray as soon as Berwald and Tino l-

"Hey there, Lukie!" A loud voice suddenly shouted from the doorway, causing all three heads to turn in the direction from which it came. There stood Mathias Køhler, the annoying Danish boy Lukas had met the day before. In his hands he clutched one of the burgandy plastic hospital trays, and he wore a rediculously large grin plastered to his face. "I brought ya your dinner!"

**A/N:**

** I am so, so sorry that it has taken me so long to get this chapter out, but I felt so guilty that I put off doing a college application today just to publish this. This is my second story update in two days, so I'm really proud of myself! Not sure which story I should update next, though. I want to do This Is War, but I feel like no one likes that story.**

** Which reminds me: This story is kind of hurting for reviews. Please, if you like it, take the time to tell me so so that I'll have more motivation to update. This fanfiction is rather difficult and sad to write, so its not always easy to get motivated about. Your reviews really help to inspire me and keep me going! And thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Your kind words mean a lot!**

** Also, just wanted to say, the picture I used for the cover of this story belongs to me. I am the Norway cosplayer in the photograph, it was taken from my phone and edited by me. The Denmark cosplayer is my friend Alex ^-^ If you like my cosplays (I also cosplay Prussia, America, Shizuo Heiwajima, Izaya Orihara, Claude Faustus, Kaito Shion and soon Sherlock Holmes (the BBC version) and Fluttershy from My Little Pony), please follow me on Tumblr and/or Instagram. The screennames are both the same as this one: Hyper4Hetalia.**

** I also have a deviantart: gilbertxbeilschmidt.**

** Thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to review/favorite/follow!**

*Briefly I'd like to mention that my medical knowledge is little to nonexistent, so anything in this fanfiction I've either made up myself or read about online somewhere, so who knows if its real. Please just go along with it for the story's sake! :)


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